JAMEY JOHNSON

Country singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson will launch his What a View tour on June 20 that will feature songs from his award-winning catalog as well as much-anticipated new music. He will be performing at the Allegan County Fair on September 12th with special guest Whitey Morgan & The 78’s. 

While Johnson has spent the better part of more than two decades on the road, he took a break from touring much of last year to focus on songwriting. The name of the tour came from one of the songs written during this burst of creativity.

“It is the song that brought me back into writing songs,” he says. “It is the one that kicked off the desire to make new music. You can expect to hear more new music in our shows from now on.”

Johnson is widely regarded as one of the best country songwriters of his generation and is known for songs such as “In Color,” “Give It Away,” “High Cost of Living,” “That’s Why I Write Songs” and “Can’t Cash My Checks.”

He is also known for the breadth and depth of his ever-changing set lists, which include his hits, album cuts and covers of country standards, as well as new songs, so fans never know what they can expect.  

“It will be fun,” he says. “We will do a lot of the old stuff and a lot of the new stuff.”

Johnson says it’s the fans who make his shows unforgettable.

“I love the connection with the audience,” he says. “There’s a camaraderie there that we have had for a really long time. It’s the connection with people who share country music as a passion.

“I love my band,” he says. “I love how much attention they put into every song that we do. They still blow me away after all of the years playing together. It is still something new every night. In a way, it’s like we are all back in the studio again: it’s our time to create this tonight and here is how it goes.”

Johnson, who has received 11 Grammy nominations, is “one of the greatest country singers of our time,” according to The Washington Post.  He has received tremendous praise from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal and other publications, many of which have hailed his albums as masterpieces.

His album That Lonesome Song was certified platinum for more than 1 million in sales, and his double album, The Guitar Song, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard country album charts and was certified gold.

He is one of only a few people in the history of country music to win two Song of the Year awards–for “Give It Away” and “In Color”–from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. His songs have been recorded by George Strait, Trace Adkins, Willie Nelson, James Otto, Joe Nichols and others.

“I am looking forward to it every day,” he says. “I can’t wait to get out on the road and play some songs that my fans haven’t heard before.”

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Johnson’s Give It Away Foundation, which was named after the George Strait hit he co-wrote with Bill Anderson and Buddy Cannon.